Here By Your Side
by onepiece-ftw
Summary: Marco's thoughts drift to compare his life before and after he had met Ace, only to be pulled out of those thoughts by Ace's sudden jolt in bed after having a nightmare.. marcoace one-shot. Just a random slightly angsty thought I had and finally had the time to write it down.. I still suck in summaries so please check the actual story X)


Helloooo again! (:

So I've decided to post this little thing here and hope you like it just like the one before. ^^ It's just some random thought that I had after listening to Hozier's "Take Me To Church" for like... a 100 times.. Reviews would be more than welcomed!

I don't think there is much of a warning in this one but there is a second hand mention of violence from a dream.

Got my lovely friend Maria to check it for me, since my English sucks and she kindly offered to beta it. Thank you, Kankan :3

Disclaimer: One Piece is totally not mine, I'm still saving money to try and be rich X)

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><p>Nights became peaceful. After such long years of lonesome and cold beds, Marco found sleeping with Ace in his arms really relaxing and warm, even if he wouldn't stay asleep for too long himself, he would still be at ease, something he had noticed and enjoyed for a while now. He even found that having Ace in the same place as he was, while working, helped his mind stay more focused on his work and not to stray towards any stress or worry. Unless, of course, Ace demanded attention, that would be another story.<p>

But like now, after one of their late night activities and with Ace snoring next to him, Marco is just lying on his back, hugging Ace to his chest and thinking about nothing in particular, not finding said emptiness of his mind bothersome at all. He drops a kiss on Ace's forehead and chuckles at the earned grumbles, something along the lines of "damn it. I want to sleep."

The First Division Commander turns his head back to stare at the ceiling and allows his mind to reflect on some sides of his life. He's been alone most of the years with no specific lover and only random relations in random ports they would dock at. He never found it a problem, as he always found company in his family, aboard the Moby Dick, and knew how to release pent up tension of any kind.

He wouldn't sleep though, nor would he do anything interesting other than doing paperwork or finishing some special "missions" for his Pops. The usual bored, sleepy expression that he wore everyday was actually how he felt, even when a few smiles, smirks and funny remarks passed his lips every once in a while, that expression wouldn't be erased from his features anytime soon. Or so he had thought.

Everyone who boards the Moby Dick and gets approved by his Pops is a sibling to him. They're all special to him and he would always protect every single one of them, but he'd never feel anything past that. When Ace came, it was like every emotion he never tasted came with Ace and crashed into him. Ace would make him feel…weird. He would poke certain nerves in Marco that the blonde never knew he had, eliciting emotions he only heard about from his brothers, but never felt. It was all new to him, but Marco being himself, explored the new addition to his life with open eyes and heart.

Ace was a lot of things that Marco was not. He was warmth, good company, source of relaxation and ease. Those feelings were only granted to him on the rare occasions of having a night alone with the sea, which became more and more of a rare occasion with the constantly increasing number of siblings he gained.

The slight shift in bed next to him brings Marco out of his random thoughts and he looks at the sleeping male, a soft smile on his face as he slowly sits up in bed and swings his feet off the edge to get up, thanking his mind that they decided to spend the night in his room this time. Getting up and looking back to make sure Ace didn't wake up, Marco makes his way slowly over to his desk and starts arranging and tidying it, something he hates and has been postponing for quite some time now.

He had been working for a while, managed to clean up the mass of paper and documents and created a tall pile to be stacked away in the morning. That's when he noticed and heard the constant rustling in the bed sheets. He looked over at Ace who was sweating and frowning while tossing his head shakily right and left.

"No.. nn… No.. leave us be.." Whimpers and soft grunts were heard from the black haired young man and Marco got to his feet, intending to go wake Ace up from his nightmare.

Only Ace beat him to it and shot up from the bed, eyes open as if he wasn't asleep mere seconds ago.

"Marco! Marco.. Marco!" Ace called as he looked around the bed and ruffled the empty sheets, not noticing that the blond was coming towards him from the direction of the desk.

"Ace. I'm here, Ace..I'm right here." Marco said softly in a reassuring tone, but Ace wasn't hearing him, his mind still foggy and his senses still not functioning well as he kept looking around the bed and the room with open, unseeing eyes.

A couple more steps and Marco sat down next to Ace on the bed, calling his name one last time before the Second Division Commander swiped his head and looked Marco in the eye, finally noticing him and seeing he was still there, safe and sound. He threw his arms around Marco's neck and pulled him into a tight embrace, not saying anything, taking deep breaths to calm his panting lungs and erratically beating heart.

Marco respected the silence and didn't break it, only wrapping his arms around Ace's shoulders to pull him close and confirm that yes, he was there and Ace's bad dream was over. After a few more minutes Marco noticed Ace's heart had stopped racing and Ace's grip slowly loosened. He didn't let go, however, and decided to pull Ace to sit on his lap, stroking his black wavy hair.

"Want to talk about it, yoi?" Ace's response came a minute or so later.

"You were with me. We were sleeping on the Moby then suddenly, some people appeared and they dragged you away. I didn't know what to do, they held me back as they dragged you and we were on land. They were burning our belongings and I was shouting at them to leave us be!" Ace began telling about his dream, getting slightly tense again by the actions he's recalling.

"Then they started hitting you. They were hitting you so hard and I couldn't do anything. Our powers weren't working and you were getting hurt. Really hurt. Your bones were breaking and you were in pain. And I… I was left to watch.

"I don't know who those people were, but they just kept beating you up. Then they suddenly stopped and you were just lying on the ground. I was left to run to your side and they vanished into thin air.. I kept shaking you to wake up.. telling you to wake up.. You didn't reply. Your eyes were.. looking at me.. your breathing was… s-slowing down and I.. watched.. I just.. watched.. I.."

The shaking voice and the pained sob that escaped Ace's lips were enough for Marco to hug him even tighter, wrapping his arms protectively around Ace to wrap him in his lap. "It's over. It was just a bad dream. I'm here by your side." Ace gripped at Marco's shoulders as he let out soft, dry sobs into his chest.

After what felt like forever for both males, Ace calmed down and loosened his grip on Marco's shoulders, opting to just slump against his chest, sharing the warmth. "I love you, Marco," Ace said quietly after a moment, "I'm sorry I … dragged you into my shit once again."

Their rooms are where they can show their true emotions, the emotions behind Ace's laughter and cockiness and the emotions behind Marco's bored, larger-than-life expression. Only they know how heavy the other feels and tend to keep it that way, just them and their rooms.

"I'll tell you once again, you don't have to apologize. Ace, don't you remember the times I dragged you into my own problems?" Marco asked softly as he stroked Ace's hair away from his face. "Really, our relationship is based on the promise of being there for each other whenever we need company, right? We're both keeping our ends of the promise, yoi."

Ace listened to every word Marco said, another part of their agreement, to listen and accept whatever help and positive words the other could offer. He wrapped his arms loosely around Marco's waist and leaned his head to rest against his shoulder. "Come back to bed… Let's just sleep some more, please?" Ace murmured and Marco, as always, couldn't find it in him to do anything but agree.

Turning around and lying back down on the bed with his lover on his chest and in his arms safely, Marco closed his eyes for a brief moment as his head rested on the pillow. "Let's sleep," he murmured softly into Ace's hair as the latter made himself comfortable on Marco's chest, hugging him and closing his eyes as he started drifting back to sleep with a soft murmur of "I love you."

That's the last thing Marco remembers hearing as he drifts to sleep, a smile gracing his lips. He knows why he's staying by Ace's side and why Ace is doing the same. That simple sentence and the warmth it brings is more than enough of a reason.


End file.
